Agenda item

To consider a report from the LGR Programme Director (copy enclosed).

Members considered a report from the LGR Programme Director which presented the draft Service Baseline Blueprints for Westmorland and Furness Council. The report outlined the services that would be inherited from the current sovereign Councils and how services are expected to be organised at vesting day (1 April 2023) as well as providing an overview of any transitional arrangements envisaged. Members were reminded that the report had not dealt with what the Westmorland and Furness Council would do to transform services beyond vesting day which would be the subject of future reports.

The Service Baseline Blueprints had been shared with staff and trade unions as well as being considered by the Shadow Overview and Scrutiny Committee whose comments had been shared with Cabinet members before the meeting and would be noted and be fed through into the Blueprint process.

The report noted the decision of the Shadow Authority Cabinet at its 10 June 2022 meeting to deliver the requirements of the Cumbria (Structural Changes Order) 2022 (SCO) which included the development of draft Service Baseline Blueprints. The draft Blueprints as set out in Appendix 1 to the report summarised information about the services from vesting day and officer recommendations as to how the services could best operate from this point.

A range of service delivery model options had been considered by officers in the development of the draft Service Baseline Blueprints which included:-

·         Aggregation

·         Disaggregation

·         Integration

·         Hosted/Shared

·         Strategic

·         Provided by others

·         Hybrid

The intention was that the Service Blueprints would now progress to the next stage of the Programme to enable further development as part of the overall Strategic Planning process, integrating corporate planning, financial planning and service planning milestones.

The Leader noted the immense amount of hard work being done to deliver the draft Blueprints and thanked officers for going above and beyond what was normally expected.

Following a question regarding Trade Unions, Sam Plum, Interim Head of Paid Service reassured Cabinet Members that Trade Unions had been sent the draft Blueprints prior to the publication of the report and that feedback would be reported at the next appropriate meeting.

Councillor Brook proposed and moved the recommendations in the report and this was seconded by Councillor Bell.

Cabinet Members echoed the Leader’s thanks to officers for their hard work and dedication. It was noted that the report represented an important point in the process and recognised the significant amount of work to be done moving forwards.

Concern was raised regarding the level of detail on the length of time for which services would be hosted, whilst some services had this level of detail, it was felt that some services lacked this clarity and that an understanding that things would continue to progress was required. In response, Sam Plum, the Interim Head of Paid Service noted that work to produce detailed options was underway.

Cabinet Members reiterated their thanks to officers for their hard work.

The recommendation was then put to a vote, which was unanimous.

RESOLVED,  that Shadow Authority Cabinet

(1)        agrees, in principle, the draft Service Baseline Blueprints attached at Appendix 1 as the basis for further work in the Implementation phase of the programme, including the development of an operating model for the new unitary Council from vesting day;

(2)        agrees, in principle, the list of service areas to be provided on a separate basis by Westmorland and Furness Council from 1 April 2023, as set out in the first column(s) of slides 2-7 in Appendix 2;

(3)        agrees to grant delegated authority to the Interim Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to take all steps required to implement the recommendations of this report, including undertaking any necessary formal and informal contractual discussions with service providers;

(4)        notes the list of service areas with the potential to be hosted as set out in second column(s) of slides 2-7 in Appendix 2, and those areas in columns 3 and 4, where transitional arrangements are likely to be needed, or where arrangements are not yet defined, and agrees to receive final recommendations on each service as more detailed work is completed, including in relation to the timescales envisaged for any hosted or transitional arrangements;

(5)        requests that officers prepare a draft Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the provision of hosted services and/or hosted contracts for consideration by the two Shadow Authorities;

(6)        notes that material budget pressures and potential savings arising from the draft Service Baseline Blueprints will be identified and included for consideration within the wider strategic planning process;

(7)        notes that the draft Service Baseline Blueprints have been shared with staff, Trades Unions and all Councillors in advance of publication of this report;

(8)        requests that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers the draft Service Baseline Blueprints at their next meeting and provides agreed comments for consideration during the strategic planning process; and

(9)        agrees that the comments received arising from (7) and (8) above are reported to the next appropriate meeting of the Shadow Authority Cabinet.